Leigh Finley was acting like a kid in a candy store, or a traditional Catholic at a fish market during Lent.<\/p>\n
Scallops, monkfish, shrimp, salmon and other seafood items piled up on the counter here at the Lobster House Fish Market. Finley drove here from Cumberland County on Tuesday just to do her fish shopping for Friday\u2019s dinner.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a big family and we\u2019re Irish Catholic,\u201d Finley, 42, of Vineland, explained.<\/p>\n
Click here for a gallery of photographs<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the Lenten season, and for the Finley family that means no meat on Fridays as an act of penitence. The religious tradition observed from Ash Wednesday to Easter dates back centuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a good tradition. Jesus did his fasting. I think it teaches you discipline and sacrifice. That\u2019s all Lent is about. It\u2019s good for the kids. These days they get so much. They\u2019re spoiled rotten. It\u2019s good to sacrifice and give something up,\u201d Finley said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also good for the seafood business, which happens to be a huge part of the southern New Jersey economy. The problem is: Fewer Catholics are observing the old traditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not like it was in the past. Ash Wednesday years ago was one of the biggest days of the year. As the population gets older and people die off, the new generation isn\u2019t following the rules like they did,\u201d said Al D\u2019Amato, the day manager at the seafood market.<\/p>\n
D\u2019Amato recalls customers even shunning some of the chowders because they have bacon in them. He rarely gets those kinds of questions anymore.<\/p>\n
The decline of Lent seafood sales also has been noted at Viking Village in Barnegat Light.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s as big as it used to be. Our sales are better because of Lent, a little bit, but it\u2019s not the high-end stuff,\u201d said Viking Village Manager Ernie Panecek.<\/p>\n
One reason is because seafood has become a specialty item these days. For centuries, it was a cheap alternative to beef, pork, chicken and other meats. Buying something that is as expensive as sirloin just doesn\u2019t seem like a sacrifice.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s become more of a specialty item than a Lent item,\u201d Panecek said.<\/p>\n
Still, Panecek said the tradition is alive and some take advantage of the market. He said he gets Lent orders from as far away as Canada.<\/p>\n
\u201cMcDonald\u2019s has a special this time of year. Buy one fish sandwich and get one free. They have it every year during Lent,\u201d Panecek said.<\/p>\n
The church itself could be one reason for the decline in observing penance. Older Catholics remember when they were told not to eat meat on Fridays all year long.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a Catholic school girl, I remember one girl eating a hot dog on a Friday and I was very upset about that. We never ate meat on Friday,\u201d said Margaret Reyes, 70, of North Cape May, who was shopping at the Lobster House.<\/p>\n
Reyes bought flounder and salmon, but admitted she no longer strictly follows the observance. If she is eating at a restaurant on a Friday and wants meat, she orders it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t feel you\u2019re going to hell if you eat meat on a Friday,\u201d Reyes said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Read more. <\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The story from New Jersey: Leigh Finley was acting like a kid in a candy store, or a traditional Catholic at a fish market during Lent. Scallops, monkfish, shrimp, salmon and other seafood items piled up on the counter here at the Lobster House Fish Market. Finley drove here from Cumberland County on Tuesday just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[523],"class_list":["post-11688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-this-that","tag-lent"],"yoast_head":"\n
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